way for more or less manipulation of assessment returns, not by those it was originally designed to protect, but by a class of property owners abundantly able to bear their just share of the burden of taxation.

There have been other changes in the law that have reduced the assessment of property. All mining property is practically exempt, since the mines are only required to pay a tax upon the net product and upon the surface improvements; all irrigation, canal, and waterstorage reservoir companies, beet-sugar factories, and fruit canneries are also exempt. For several years there was in force a statute exempting all young orchards from taxation. As to irrigation companies, this exemption applies to ditches whether owned by incorporated companies or communities. All railroad companies are exempt from taxes from the time they commence construction and for six years more after they begin to operate the road as a public carrier. Thus it is plain that there have been so many liberal alterations made in the assessment laws that there has not been much apparent progress in piling up the taxable wealth of the Territory, so far as the exhibit made by the assessment returns go to show. But this subject is now receiving the serious attention it merits at the hands of the representative men of the Territory, regardless of political affiliations, and will be remedied in due time.

In my message to the thirty-fourth legislative assembly I had this to say on the subject:

The question presented in the auditor's report of the decreased value of taxable property, as shown by assessment rolls, is a very serious one, that should be remedied by your body promptly. It makes a bad showing for the Territory; is a great injustice to some counties; is unfair to the taxpayer, and results in no practical benefit to anyone, as a low rate of valuation necessitates an increased rate of taxation; a certain amount of money has to be raised, and it is much better to have it upon a fair valuation by a low rate of taxation, both for ourselves and for its effect upon the people outside of the Territory.

I would also renew my recommendation for the creation of an office to be known as traveling auditor or Territorial examiner; the duty of such officer to be the examination of assessment rolls, tax lists, collectors' and treasurers' accounts, and Territorial banks, at stated or irregular intervals, and establish and maintain a uniform system in each county for the keeping of records and accounts. This office has been most successful in Wyoming, where it has been in operation since 1892, and the system has been adopted in many other States with a great saving in money and labor to the county and State officials.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

New Mexico's State buildings devoted to public purposes and the grounds connected therewith are as follows, together with their estimated value at the present time:

As a result of the broad spirit of progression which characterized the thirty-fourth legislative assembly, some $150,000 were expended on improvements and betterments on these various institutions during the past year. This money was derived from the grant of lands authorized by Congress by an act approved June 21, 1898, and which beneficent statute has proved of very great and lasting benefit to New Mexico thus far, with every indication that its benefits will become still greater with the lapse of time.

THE MINING INDUSTRY.

Mining for the useful and precious metals has been extremely active throughout the Territory during the year, and a very large area of coal, iron, and oil-bearing lands has passed to private ownership with energetic operations inaugurated for their development. Oil-drill rigs are now at work in five or six different districts, with every promise that New Mexico will become a producer of merchantable oil before many months. Several new and important coal camps contiguous to the new lines of railroad have been established and quite a number of notable gold and copper strikes have been made. The coal and coke industry gives employment to some 2,000 persons, and the machinery and operating plants are valued at $715,000. The net output of the coal mines for the year was 1,102,046 tons, valued at the mines at $1.609,898.90. Coke production for the year amounted to 25,012 tons, valued at $58,207.

According to official statistics the percentage of increase of the coal production of New Mexico is greater than the percentage of increase of the United States or of Colorado or of Wyoming. There can be no doubt either that from now on the coal output of New Mexico will increase rapidly. For this year arrangements have been made to develope large coal fields heretofore untouched, and it should take less than a decade before New Mexico has passed Colorado, Wyoming, and any other western State as a coal producer. Continuous daily shipments of iron ores have been made throughout the year from New Mexico points to the Bessemer steel plant in Colorado. They have been large, but no record is obtainable on the subject. Of gold, silver, lead, and copper the Territorial product for the past year is estimated at between six and seven million dollars, and the value of the turquois mined in New Mexico is in the neighborhood of $138,000.

MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES.

I am pleased to report a very gratifying activity in the line of manufacturing enterprises. New Mexico is not generally considered a manufacturing district, and yet the census returns, crude as they are known to be, show that her importance in this direction is steadily growing, and that already the value of our manufactured products amounts to over four times the value of the Territory's coal production. The growth in this line has been really phenomenal, considering that it has all been made mostly within the past four years. In 1890 there were 127 manufacturing establishments in the Territory; to-day there are 420, or over three times as many. In 1890 the capital invested in manufacturing establishments in the Territory was $963,936; to-day it is $2,697,786. In 1890, 819 people found employment in New Mexico

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manufactories; in 1900 this number had increased to 2,600. The total wages paid in 1890 amounted to $470,361; in 1900 they amounted to $1,350,586. In 1890 the cost of the raw material used was $691,420; in 1900 it was $2,914,138. The value of products in 1890 was $1,516,195; in 1900 it was $5,605,783, or almost four times as much. The important industries in New Mexico at present are the smelting of copper and lead ores, with a product valued at nearly $1,000,000 a year; flour milling, with a product valued at $551,108; the scouring of wool, with $77,875, as the receipts for last year's work.

The New Mexico lumber industry employs 31 steam engines, with a total horsepower of 1,153; 1 gasoline engine and 1 water wheel. There are 7 establishments employing less than 5 persons; 20 employing from 5 to 20, and 5 employing from 21 to 50 persons. There are 31 sawmills in the Territory with an invested capital of $160,798, employing 243 men, earning $80,851 per year, whose annual product is worth $290,527. Of mills sawing 50,000 to 500,000 feet per year, there are 13 in New Mexico; of mills sawing 500,000 to 1,000,000 feet per year, there are 4; of mills sawing 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 feet per year, there are 14. There are 13 planing mills in the Territory employing 41 people, who earn $18,291 annually, and who produce $75,050 worth of material per year.

Unquestionably a bright future is in store for New Mexico in point of manufacturing enterprises. The physical conditions existing here are such as to insure this as a fact beyond all peradventure. An abundance of raw material, cheap coal, both anthracite and bituminous, crude oil that may also be used for fuel, a climate where the factory employee may live at a minimum of cost, not subject to many petty ills of life that characterize their Eastern habitations, and at the same time enjoy the benefit of good schools, an excellent state of society, and the purest air and water the earth affords-all these considerations, taken in connection with the evergrowing and expanding market which the Southwest now offers, and which must continue to be enlarged by the demands from Mexico, the South American and Central American States, and the opening of the Philippines and the Orient to American trade and commerce-indicate much for New Mexico's future in respect to manufacturing industries.

Besides, our native-born inhabitants are most apt at learning, and are naturally deft of hand; this is shown by their skill in the manufacture of the delicate gold and silver filigree, their spinning of yarn and weaving of blankets, and their aptitude in many lines of modern industry. The native-born citizen also possesses many other traits of character which commend him to the manufacturer. He is not a labor agitator; he is a faithful, plodding worker, and he is content as long as he is accorded fair treatment and reasonable compensation for his services.

Such diversified industries as pertain to the production of woolen fabrics, blankets, knitting factories, etc., tanneries and shoe and harness making establishments, iron and steel mills, marble yards and stone polishing plants, are now needed throughout New Mexico, and the field is an excelleht one for the promoters of such interests to investigate. Those contemplating the establishment of potteries, lumber, flour, and grist mills, creameries, fruit distilleries and wineries, will also find here conditions that will interest them in a business way. Then, too, a large brewery located at some central point in New Mexico

would prove a highly profitable business undertaking at this time, and as for beet-sugar factories, the conditions are all so perfect, with our sugar beets containing the highest percentage of saccharine matter of any State or Territory in the Union, an inexpensive home labor supply, pure water, an abundance of limestone, fire clay, and other accessories to be found at so many different points in the Territory, that there is to be found here at present rare openings for at least half a dozen beet-sugar factories. Citizens of all communities are ever ready to encourage in every way possible the introduction of capital for manufacturing enterprises, and representatives of such industries are assured of cordial reception, hearty cooperation, and liberal concessions in any community in the Territory.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

The leading communities of New Mexico are made up of cultured, companionable people, ever ready to entertain the visitor and look to the welfare of the stranger within their gates, and almost anywhere he may land the visitor will find the foundations of a broad and enlightened society well established. He will find a generous, progressive, and liberal-minded people, ready to lend a helping hand to every comer. He will find good order, law, and enlightened public sentiment ruling New Mexico.

The hotel accommodations are generally good. There are public libraries, museums, and the like in almost every community. In most of the towns throughout the Territory a picturesque "plaza," or shady public square, forms the center of social and business attraction, where plaza concerts given by local musicians are regular features and which are enjoyed alike by resident and stranger.

FRATERNAL ORDERS.

All the fraternal orders have homes in the various cities and towns throughout the Territory. These comprise the Masons and their kindred organizations (Knights Templar, Scottish Rite, Mystic Shriners, etc.), Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, United Workmen, Woodmen of the World, Elks, Red Men, Junior Order of Mechanics, etc. A notable event in the history of fraternal societies in New Mexico was the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of Odd Fellowship into the Territory, which took place at Santa Fe in July last. This order and Masonry have flourished here since the early 50's. The first Masonic lodge organized west of the Missouri River was at Santa Fe in the days of the historic Santa Fe trail, and on February 6, 1854, the territorial legislature passed an act granting the order a perpetual charter.

We also have a large organization of the Grand Army of the Republic, with posts at different localities in the Territory. Their annual reunions are always looked forward to with great pleasure by the old soldier residents of our Territory.

MORAL CONDITIONS.

The material progress of New Mexico is not more marked than is its advancement along the path of morality. That a high standard of public morals prevails here is further shown by the very large number

and character of religious organizations, and it is a fact not to be questioned that the percentage of regular church-goers in New Mexico is far ahead of that of the average in the States.

The various church organizations are in charge of refined and cultured men and are well represented. The following-named churches are all well attended throughout the Territory in every county and city: Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, Presbyterian, Congregational, Christian, Baptist, Mormon, African Methodist, African Baptist, and others.

Next to the schools, the American immigrant inquires concerning the church facilities. These, like the schools, are better in the towns than they are in the country, but this is also the case very largely in the States, and is necessarily so in all new sections. All the leading denominations are represented in the Territory, the towns being graced with handsome edifices, where attractive sermons are delivered by able and educated ministers, and where well-trained choirs add the pleasing enticement of music to the gospel's tender entreaties.

The Catholic Church, of course, first occupied the field in the Territory. The first Protestant church to enter the Territory was the Baptist. Rev. Samuel Gorman, of that church, in 1850 was the first Protestant missionary to the Pueblos, his labors being centered in Laguna. The Methodists were but one year behind their Baptist brethren. Following close upon the Methodists, the Presbyterians came to the Territory in 1851. The first Episcopal services in New Mexico were held at Santa Fe in 1863. The first Congregational church in New Mexico was organized in 1881 at Albuquerque, and several other churches have since followed.

There are many of the Jewish faith in New Mexico, but, as far as the writer has been able to ascertain, they have organized congregations and regular worship only at Albuquerque and Las Vegas.

The colored people of the Territory generally belong to the African Methodist Church, of which denomination there are organized churches at Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and one or two more of the larger towns. The Mormons have a few settlements in New Mexico, but these they have exclusively to themselves, and they are pretty generally on the northwestern borders of the Territory. There are Freethinkers, Unitarians, and Universalists scattered through the various towns, but none of these faiths have any organized societies.

The matters touched upon in the foregoing "general review of present conditions" all appear more in detail in the various reports to follow, and they certainly show that New Mexico has more than demonstrated her ability to sustain and govern herself. She needs no aid save in two cases, national support for irrigation and national con sent to govern herself as a free and independent State of the Union, for our people strongly appreciate and understand that statehood means permanent establishment of civil rights, a recognized place in the sisterhood of States, a financial longitude and latitude determined by a State governor and legislature and a constitutional convention.

STATEHOOD.

To those who critically scan the pages of this official report, outlining as it does the past year's progress of the Territory, its present status in all things that combine to make great States, its growth and